Apparatus for moving railway switches and signals.



PATENTED SEPT. 11, 1906.

F. P. J; PATENALL. APPARATUS FOR MOVING RAILWAY SWITGHES AND SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED SEPT. 11. 1906.

- f. P. J. PATENALL. APPARATUS FOR MOVING RAILWAY SWITCHES AND SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1905.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I THE NORRIS PITARS cm, wnsnmarnu, n. c.

No. 830,522. PATENTBD SEPT. 11, 1906.

F. P. J. PATENALL. APPARATUS FOR MOVING RAILWAY SWITCHES AND SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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FRANK P. J. PATENALL. OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

APPARATUS FOR MOVING RAILWAY SWITCHES AND SIGNALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Sept. 11, 1906.

Application filed November 25,1905. Serial No. 289,018.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK P. J. PATEN- ALL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Moving Railway Switches andSignals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to manually-operated apparatus for moving railwayswitches and signals and which is designed more particularly for use inconnection with what is known in the art as derailing-switches. Theseswitches in practice are in an open position or set to derail; and anobject of the present invention is to provide simple, ine2gpensive, andeffective means for moving the switch-rails to a reverse or closedposition, for operating the detector-bar and lock-bolt to lock theswitch-rails at the completion of their reverse or closed movement, and,fur-' thermore, for moving the signal-arm from one of its positions ofindication to another.

Briefly, my invention may be said to comprise a single line ofconnection with a sliding member, coacting parts or adjuncts operated bythe sliding member for moving the switch-rails, detector-bar, andlock-bolt and also the signal-arm, and a plurality of levers forperforming a plurality of functions and adapted to be operated so-as toimpart an intermittent movement to the sliding member in bothdirect-ions.

I will now describe an apparatus embodying my invention and then pointout the novel features in claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate,respectively, diagrammatic views of an apparatus embodying my invention,the same being shown in connection with a derailing-switch and anordinary semaphore-signal. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing theapplication ofan apparatus embodying my invention to a railway-crossing.In this view a derail-switch and signal is located at each side of thecrossing, and the levers for operating the same, are arranged in fourseparate series within a cabin or tower from which the switch-rails andsignals are controlled.

Similar reference characters designate like parts in all the figures ofthe drawings.

Referring more particularly to Figs.- 1 to 4, inclusive, A designates aportion of a railway; B, a derailing-switch the points of which areconnected by means ofthe bridle-rods b b, respectively, the formerhaving secured to it the lockrod b and the latter the switch-rod b,which usually extends outwardly and con- "studs or rollers c 0 0 adaptedto engage, re-

spectively, with escapement-levers (sometimes termed alligator-jaws) c c0 These levers may be of any ordinary or usual construction and are soarranged and connected up to the switch-points, lock-bolt, and signalthat they are successively operated in the order mentioned by a movementof the sliding member.

D designates a lock-rod one end of which is secured to one arm d of athree-arm lever D, its opposite free end passing through an opening in ahousing D and engaging with and locking the lock-rod b which latterlikewise passes through an opening in the housing D arranged at rightangles to the lockbolt D. The lock-rod b when the parts are in theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is free to move within the housing D Inother words, while the parts are in this position the switch-rails areunlocked and are capable of being moved to the reverse position. (Shownin Figs. 2, 3, and 4.)

D designates a three-arm lever which is pivotally supported, as shown at(1 and to that arm thereof oppositely disposed to the arm d anddesignated d is secured one end of a rod (2, which is connected at itsopposite end to a detector-bar E, while the third arm (1", which isdisposed at approximately right angles to the arms d d, has one end of arod F secured to it, the opposite end of said rod being in turnconnected to an arm secured to or forming part of the escapementdever0". Thus when the latter is moved, as I shall presently describe, theconnections just described will cause the simultaneous movements of thedetector-bar E and lock-rod D.

The switch-rod b is connected to an arm secured to or made integral withthe escapement-lever c and serves to move the switchrails back and forthfrom one position to another as the sliding bar is moved in onedirecmaintain a relative position at that point.

the case maybe, will also be moved, the pivottion or the other to effectthe engagement of the stud c with said escapement-lever c.

S designates a railway-signal which may be of the semaphore-type, havingthe usual arm or blade 8 and counterbalance s for brin ing thesignal-arm to the position of "danger, all of which is well known in theart. The signalrod 8 is connected at one end to the counterbalance 8 inthe usual manner, and its other end connects with one arm of abell-crank lever S, pivotally supported in pro er relation to the signalS, the other arm 0 said bellcrank lever being connected to a rod 8 whichin turn connects with an arm secured to or forming part of theescapement lever 0 Thus when the latter is moved through theintermediary of the stud or roller 0 the parts will be operated to movethe signal from one of its positions to another, as will be apparent.

The sliding member C has connected -to it a lever G, to the outer freeends of which are secured connecting-rods g g, one of which isivotallysecured to the center of a floating ever H, and the other is similarlysecured to the center of a corres onding floating lever H, the saidfloating evers being pivotally secured to each other at their abuttingends, as clearly shown at 90, which causes them to J J J designate,respectively, a plurality of bell-crank levers pivotally supported inany suitable manner, as on the uprights or posts 1 2 3 herein shown,which may be located 1 at a distance from the switch and signal, one armof each bell-crank lever being connected, respectively, to rods 7L h if,the rod it being connected to the outer end. of the floating levers Hand the rod It being similarly connected to the outer end of thefloating lever H, while the rod 7L2 connects with both of the floatinglevers and preferably at their junction or pivotal point 90. Thus itwill be understood as the rods h or it are moved in either direction andwhile the rod h is held in rigid position the floating lever H or H, as

oint at as serving as a fixed fulcrum therefor. The rods 9 or g will ofcoursebe aflected by these movements of the floating levers, causingthem to act upon the lever G in such manner as to impart anintermittently-s1iding movement to the sliding member C, and so bringits studs or rollers c c 0 into engagement with the escapement-levers cc c in l proper order and sequence to move the va rious parts andadjuncts comprised in the switch and signal 0 crating apparatus.

The movement of the floating levers and their connections is effected bya plurality of levers K K K which may be, and generally are, located atadistance from the switch and 1 shown in Fig. 3. I exerts a pull uponthe rod 9 and the end of shown in Fig. 5 and are connected by rods lsignal (and ire uently in a tower or cabin j j respectively, to theopposite arms of the bell-crank levers J J J to which the rods h h h aresecured. As is usual, these levers are mechanically interlocker in orderthat they shall have a certain order of movement.

In order that my invention may be the better understood, I will brieflydescribe its operation, premising, however, that the operation of theapparatus shown in Fig. 5 will be precisely similar, the only exceptionbeing that where the switch-rails and signals are located at rightangles or at any angle of appreciable degree relatively to the movementof the levers K K K the interposition of appropriate levers will benecessary between them and the connections with the sliding member C inorder that proper movement may be given to the latter. This is clearlyillustrated at the right-hand side of Fig. '5

and will be later on described.

As will be observed on reference to Fig. 1, the levers K K K are in whatmaybe termed their normal position, all of them inclining to the rightand thereby keeping the slide member 0 in such position that the studsor rollers 0 0 0 will be so disposed relatively with theescapement-levers c c c that upon the initial movement of the slidingmember C the stud or roller 0 will first engage and move theescapement-lever c", throwing the switchrails over to the reverse orclosed position. (Shown in Fig. 2.) This movement will bring the stud orroller 0 into a position similar to that previously occupiedby theroller 0 and ready to engage and move the escapementlever c at the nextmovement of the sliding member. The lever K is moved to its reverseposition-that is, to the left (see Fig. 2)in eflecting this partialmovement of the sliding member, while the other levers K K are in theirnormal position, so as to provide fixed fulcrums for the floating leversH H at their outer ends, and, as will be observed, the floating leversare moved to assume a different position--i. a, they will assume aposition reverse to that shown in. Fig. 1, thus exerting an equal pullupon the rods g g and lover G and caus ng the sliding member to movesufiiciently to bring the stud 0 into engagement with an d. reverse theposition of the escapement-levers 0 thus moving the swi tchpoints to theopposite or reverse position. The lever K is then moved. to its reverseposition, which movement of the lever through its connections (the rodj, bell-crank lever J, and rod it) will exert a pull upon the outer endof the floating lever H, causingit to move upon the fixed fulcrum ac tothe position This movement of course the lever G to which it isattached, the opposite end of said lever serving as a fulcrum, and byreason of the position of the operatinglevers K K and the floating leverH the sliding member C will be moved sufficiently to bring the stud orroller 0 into engagement with and operate the escapement-lever 0 therebycausing the simultaneous movement of the lock-bolt D and detectonbar E,hen

now the operating-lover -K ismoved to its reverse position, thefloatinglever H, through the connection previously described, will bemovedupon thefixed fulcrum while the floating lever H is held'in fixedposition by reason of the levers K and K being in their reverseposition, the lever G, through the rod 9, being held in asimilarly-fixed position. Thus the pull upon the rod g will move thatend of the lever G to which it is attached, thereby giving a stillfurther movement to the sliding member C andcausing the stud or roller 0to engage with and move the escapement-lever 0 which latter, through theconnections with the signal, will move the signalarm to a positionindicating safety. This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 4.

Obviously in returning the parts to their normal or derail position areversal in the order of operation of the levers K K K will benecessary. In other words, the lever K will be first moved. to itsnormal position, and the stud c on the sliding member C will firstengage and operate the escapement-lever 0 moving the signal-arm back tothe position indicating danger. A. movement of the lever K to its normalposition will againv cause the slide memberto move and bring the stud 0into engagement with and operate the escapement-lever c efiecting theunlocking of the switch rails and simultaneous movement of thedetector-bar, and finally by a movement of the lever K to its normalposition the sliding member 0 will again be moved to bring the stud orroller 0 into engagement with and operate the escapementlever 0 whichlatter, through its connections, will move the switch-rails back to thenormal or unlocked position.

Referring now to Fig. 5, A and A designate, respectively, sections of arailway-track which cross each other, as at a grade or other crossing,at the four sides of which are located the derail-switches B B andsignals S S the construction and arrangement of which. are preciselysimilar to that described with refer ence to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.The signals S and switches B are operated in precisely the same manneras those previously described- 'i. 6., by a direct thrust of therespective levers K K K in a direction parallel to the movement of thesliding bars C, but the signals S and switch-rails B are operated by athrust of the levers K K K at right angles to the movement of thesliding members C. It is therefore manifest that the bell-crank levers JJ J 2 will have to be arranged in such man ner that the proper effectwill be produced upon the floating levers H H and the lever G toproperly move the sliding members C. This I accomplish by connectingbell-cranks J J J which are mounted on vertical axis, as

.in Fig. 5.

shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, to bell-cranks mounted on horizontal axis ,asclearly shown The levers. K K K are suitably mounted in series within acabin or tower conveniently located at some point of vantage, as isusual and customary in such installations.

I I claim i 1 In aswitch moving, locking and signaling apparatus,thecombination with a switch, a lock therefor, and a signal, of asliding member operatively connected with the switch, lock and signal, alever for operating the switch, a lever for operating the look, a leverfor operating the signal, anda single line of connections bet ween thelever and sliding member.

2. In a switch moving, locking and signaling apparatus, the combinationwith a plurality of levers adapted to perform a plurality of functions,of a sliding member adapted to coact with and move parts or adjuncts foroperatingthe switch, lock and signal, and connections between the leversand sliding member which upon movement of said levers operate thesliding member to move the switch, lock and signal.

3. In a switch moving, locking and signaling apparatus, the combinationof a plurality of levers adapted to perform a plurality of functions, asliding member having means for operating the switch, lock and signaloperating parts or adjuncts, and connections between the plurality oflevers, and sliding member whereby the latter is given anintermittently-sliding movement to successively operate the switch,lock'and signal.

4. In a switch moving, lock and signal apparatus, the combination with aplurality of independently'arranged levers adapted to perform aplurality of independent functions, of a sliding member having means foroperating the switch, lock and signal, floating lever connectionsbetween the sliding member and levers whereby upon movements of thelatter the sliding member is given an intermittently-sliding movementand the switch, lock and signal are moved from one position to another.

5. In a switch moving, locking and signaling apparatus, the combinationwith a plurality of levers adapted to perform a plurality of functions,of a sliding member having means for coacting with and operating theswitch, lock and signal parts-or adjuncts, asingleline connectionbetween the sliding member and levers comprising floating levers androds, which upon movement of the levers are operated to impart an.intermittently-sliding movement to the sliding member, whereby theswitch, lock and signal are moved from one position to another.

6. A switch moving, locking and signaling apparatus, being operativelyconnected to escapement-levers, a sliding member having means forcoacting with and moving the eseapementlevers, a connection between oneof the eseapement-1evers and a detector-bar whereby the latter is movedfrom one posi- 5 tion to another, a plurality of levers, adapted toperform a plurality (if functions, and a sim gle line connection betweenthe sliding member and levers, whereby upon operation of the latter thesliding member is given an in- 10 termittently sliding movement, and theswitch, lock, deteotor-bar and signal are moved from one position toanother.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribed WltIlBSSGS.

FRANK P. J. PATENALLQ Witnesses:

E. T. RUDOLPH, WM. SPILMAN.

